Are Your Air Fresheners Really Freshening Your Air?

When you read the label “Ocean Breeze” on your air freshener you no doubt think clean, fresh and natural. But what chemicals are our trusted brands actually using to create these smells? Being aware of what we are infecting our bodies with will put us on track to leading a cleaner and healthier life. I mean, making the healthy choice to switch out your air freshener for an all natural alternative is much easier than going on a run everyday. Purple Frog Patches offers you this easy healthy alternative to toxic air fresheners! Don’t take my word for it though, do your own research air freshener chemicals or check out Kimberly Synder’s blog post on the dangers of air fresheners below…

“You’ve probably seen the commercial: A mom walks into a teenager’s room, takes a sniff and tells him no “nice” girl would ever want him because his room smells like (shocker!) teenage boy. She tells him it’s time to “wash” his room and hands him a bottle of Febreze, which he proceeds to spritz on every stinking surface in the room, from his pillow to his bed. In the next scene a girl walks in, sniffs around, and decides the boy is all right. There’s so much wrong with this commercial, I could go on for hours… but I want to focus on the one that is going to have a long-term effect on health: air fresheners. They can be quite harmful to your health, and the same can be said about disposable diapers.

I always gag when I walk into a Febreze-sprayed room. The worst is when the cleaning crew uses it like crazy in actors’ trailers, and then we have to sit in there all day.

Air fresheners come in many different forms, from air and fabric sprays to plug in “burners” to solids. While they can perfume the air of your home, they don’t actually neutralize smells and they can wreak havoc on your home’s air quality.

What’s in Air Freshener

According to the EPA1, air freshener contains four basic ingredients: formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, aerosol propellants, and p-dichlorobenzene.

Formaldehyde can cause a number of health effects including:

Watery eyes

Burning eye, nose, throat and other mucous membranes

Difficulty breathing

Nausea

Asthma attacks

Petroleum distillates come from petrochemical manufacturing, which contribute to air, soil, and groundwater pollution. The effects on human health include:

Of course, air fresheners also contain fragrance, often in the form of perfumed chemicals.

Indoor Air Quality

It’s quite ironic, really, that something designed to “improve” indoor air quality by making it smell better actually winds up making your home more toxic. Studies show that use of air fresheners in the home can trigger asthma and allergies, along with other breathing problems. Because your home is a relatively closed space, adding elements that diminish air quality can harm your family and contribute to the toxic brew of chemicals that wind up trapped in your system. Air fresheners can also harm pets, which have a faster metabolism. They may also be especially dangerous for people with pulmonary conditions such as asthma, allergies, or COPD.”

Kim Synders full Blog has more information on other in home DIY alternatives, and for your on-the-go personal air freshening needs, check out Purple Frog Patches!

Hope Kim and I provided you with a little bit more information on what you can be doing to #cleartheair